Kitchen Meditations with Kendall Vanderslice

Have you ever followed a diet together with a community of friends? Maybe you all agreed to cut out sugar for a week, or you’re trying a Dry January altogether. Perhaps you have found community through your diet—you went Paleo for awhile and enjoyed building connections with other Paleo people on Instagram. Or you’re vegan and, despite all the jokes lobbed at vegans, you’re grateful to be a part of something beyond yourself.

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You are what you eat. I imagine you’ve heard this phrase before. Maybe it’s helped you embrace the foods that connect you to family or to home. Or maybe it’s shamed you for enjoying something unhealthy. In our third episode on Diet Culture, we’ll dive into the way food shapes our identities, for better or for worse, and how we can use food to remind us of who we are.

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Eating Right in America by Charlotte Biltekoff

The Body of the Conquistador by Rebecca Earle

Pre-order By Bread Alone today!

Happy New Year! Are you bombarded by messages about how to make this year the best one yet?

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the hospitality given and received by the Holy Family just after Christ’s birth. And we’re going to examine what this story encourages us to do. I hope that this story sparks in you a desire to build communities marked by generosity—I expect you’ll find fulfillment greater than you could have imagined too. Listen in.

This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.”

Today begins the third week of Advent—Gaudete Sunday. This is the week of Advent devoted to joy. On this third Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to some of the most absurd moments in the story of Christ’s birth, stories that we think just might be God encouraging us to laugh a little bit.This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.”

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On this second Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the hospitality Mary showed God in carrying the infant Jesus in her body. Through this story, we’ll look for the gifts we can find when we open ourselves up to others, even at the most inconvenient times. This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.”

Links and Resources:

This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. On this first Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah. We’ll examine what their lives can teach us about embracing the gift of hospitality, even in seasons of unmet longing and endless waiting. We pray this episode will be an encouragement to you in your own seasons of longing. Listen in.

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Thanksgiving is a complex holiday. Both its history and the role it plays in many families today. This week on Kitchen Meditations, we’re talking about Thanksgiving. We believe it is a day we can choose to confess our brokenness and work towards healing, together at the table. If you’re looking for a new way to approach the holidays this year, listen in.

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This Fall, we’ve been reflecting on our food stories and how they impact our sense of home. We believe these conversations are critical as our country faces both a loneliness epidemic and increasing social discord. This week, Kendall Vanderslice shares some of her own food story, how it led her to create the Edible Theology Project, and why gathering at the table in this season is more important than ever. Listen in

.USA Today article on Loneliness and American democracy

Download our show transcript & subscribe to our weekly newsletter at www.edibletheology.com/kitchen-meditations.